Public Relations Planning

Public Relations

Often misunderstood as “publicity”

Management of image and reputation

Use of information to influence opinion

Create or maintain goodwill

Reputation as a competitive asset External and internal audiences

customers, news media, investment community, public, government, stakeholders, and employees

Definitions

Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt to each other

Public relations is an effort to win the cooperation of groups of people

Different from Advertising

Media - usually not purchased Try to persuade gatekeepers to cover story Publicity (unpaid); Institutional advertising (paid)

Control - message content and audience Less than with ads, difficult to measure

Credibility - audiences tend to believe More so than ads, seen as complete and objective

The emergence of PR

Growth of large institutions

Mass democracy

Conflict and confrontation

Heightened public awareness

Increased public sophistication

Publics

Internal and external publicsBased on organizational boundaries

Primary, secondary and marginalBased on influence

Traditional and futureBased on time

Proponents, opponents and uncommittedBased on relationship

Key Publics

Focus of PR

Primary focus is to influence attitudes

Differs from advertising where attitude change is intended to change behavior

Must monitor and track the attitudes of many different publics, no sales data

Types of PR Planning

Issue Management

Image and Reputation Management

Relationship Management

Crisis Management

Marketing Public Relations

Public Opinion and Issues Management

Monitor public opinion about issues that are central to the organizations interestsWhat publics are important?What do these publics think?

Develop programs to to communicate to and with the public about these issues

Corporate Image and Reputation Management

Takes a long time to build; one slip can create a negative public impression

Corporate image is fragile; requires a reputation management program

It is the sum total of a company’s identity efforts and stakeholder images It is earned, not created

Identity to Reputation

Relationship Management

Managing relationship with stakeholders Government relations - regulators, legislators, and

activists - lobbying Media relations - media contacts who cover stories

on your category - publicity Employee relations - human resources and

employee unions - internal market Financial relations - financial markets, financial

press, analysts, investors - annual reports

Government Relations

Executive and legislatureFederal GovernmentState GovernmentLocal Government

Lobbying Legislative Grass-roots

Political Action Committees

Employee Relations

Online Communication

Print Newsletters

Management Publications

Employee Annual Reports

Bulletin Boards

Internal Video

Supervisory communication

Financial RelationsShareholders Annual reports Company mailing

Analysts Annual reports Company visits Presentations

Legislatures Lobbying

Financial Markets Business press Financial News channels

Crisis Management

Surprise

Insufficient information

Escalating events

Loss of control

Increased outside scrutiny

Siege mentality

Panic

Planning in a crisis

First, define the risk for each potentially affected audience

Second, for each risk defined describe the actions that mitigate the risk

Third, identify the cause of the risk

Fourth, demonstrate responsible management action

Communicating in a crisisSpeak first and oftenDon’t speculateGo off the record at your own perilStay with the factsBe open, concerned, not defensiveMake your point and repeat itDon’t go to war with the mediaEstablish yourself as an authoritative sourceStay calm, be truthful and cooperativeNever lie

Marketing through PR

Product publicity

Product placement

Third-party endorsement

Use of spokespersons

Trade show participation

Cause related marketing

PR advertising

Marketing Public Relations

More overlap with advertising

More consumer and sales focused

Increase brand credibility w/ consumersCan involve a combination of advertising,

direct mail, merchandizing materials, as well as innovations in public relations

Product publicity + product placementEndorsements + Spokespeople

Cause and Mission Marketing

Cause marketing - adopting a cause and sponsoring its fundraisingTarget’s ‘Take Charge of Education”

Mission marketing - linking a company’s philosophy and values to a causeBody Shop - Animals, Environment, Rights